Poll

Opinion

April has come and gone. Getting our income tax worries are behind us until next year. But wait, there is something else going on.

People all over America are frustrated about the lack of jobs, growth of the federal government, lack of transparency and accountability in our state and federal government.

Many of us locally who feel this way have been involved with the Lancaster TEA Party movement for just over a year. Our little town is in step with all of the other TEA Parties statewide and nationwide.

Please vote in the June 22 runoff even if your candidate was not one of the top two vote-getters. The selection of a person to be the governor of our state is a very important one. The person for that job is Gresham Barrett.

Duly elected officials, even when they are running for higher office, must go to their job and vote on legislation, especially their own. I do not want a governor who can’t be responsible.

In a recent column, retired Judge Don Rushing correctly stated that it is the people in the judicial system who are the problem, and not the system itself.

However, in that same column, Judge Rushing appears to disparage the people’s right to criticize a system that is clearly broken, regardless of the reason.

To emphasize my point, let’s take a look at the case that dominated the news in the days immediately following the publication of Judge Rushing’s column. It was a case from Utah concerning a murderer named Ronnie Lee Gardner.

Today is a red letter day for all you dads out there. It’s Father’s Day and, if you’re lucky, you can look forward to a special meal, a hand-lettered card from a small child or grandchild and of, course, the ubiquitous necktie.

Since 1966 when President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father’s Day, Americans have set aside that day to honor their fathers and grandfathers.

Tuesday is a critical day for South Carolina library users and supporters.

Gov. Mark Sanford has vetoed all state aid for public libraries. Library supporters must act now to urge the Legislature to overturn vetoes 31 and 92.

The General Assembly meets Tuesday to consider overriding these and 105 other vetoes.

The governor is working hard to secure the votes he needs to sustain his vetoes. We have never faced anything like this before, and the result will be devastating to library services in Lancaster County.

On June 1, while visiting my parents, we made our usual visit to Walmart. This visit turned out to be anything but usual. After loading our bags in the car, we returned to my parents’ house. I then took my mom to the doctor.

As I started to get out of the car, I noticed that my purse was not in the car. I called my dad and he looked around the house with no luck. I then realized I had left it in the shopping cart at Walmart. We returned to Walmart where I looked in the closest trashcans with no luck.

Do we save it or let it go? That’s the question Lancaster County officials are facing with the historic jail building on West Gay Street in downtown Lancaster.

The top of the building is sinking and an engineer has told the county the building could collapse. The building hasn’t been used as a jail in years, but has housed the county’s Emergency Operation Center, Lancaster County Fire Service and Emergency Management. After a structural engineer informed the county of the problem, the operation center was moved out of the building.

I want to thank Faulkner Animal Hospital and all the staff there for their care and concern for my pet poodle, Maggie. My poodle had multiple problems like blindness, along with diabetes. She was like a family member to us. The doctor and staff there treated her above and beyond what most animal facilities would have done. They ran tests and explained to me in layman’s terms what they meant and what we could try next.

They watched her constantly for several days and did everything they could for her.

Recently, Dance Works Unlimited held its spring recital at the Lancaster High School auditorium. I attended the afternoon performance at which a selection was choreographed to the song sung at the graveside of Elyse Hardin.

Ashlyn, Elyse’s sister, appeared radiant in white as if an angel ascending to heaven. I was moved to tears and felt the pangs of grief my cousins are feeling with the untimely death of Elyse. Elyse was killed in an automobile accident during the past Christmas holidays.

As your S.C. House representative for District 45, one of the most important issues I must tackle is the state’s budget. Recently, there has been a lot of talk about out-of-control spending and government waste.

Conservative-minded citizens have rallied together to send that message strongly to their elected officials and, as a relative newcomer to the statehouse, I cannot express my thanks enough for your activism.

When I read the headlines, “A call for peace, cooperation,” in the June 2 edition of The Lancaster News, I was simply disgusted for the citizens of Lancaster County.

I personally served as the eyes, ears and even hands for law enforcement in Lancaster County. I cooperated fully with Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office leading to the arrest of a drug dealer several months ago.

Mother Sylvia Jones is a lifetime Lancaster County resident who lives in the Southside community. She has had her share of obstacles in her 79 years of life. After her mother died, Mother Sylvia took on the responsibility of raising her three siblings at the age of 17. The youngest sibling was 4 years old.

Mother Sylvia nurtured and cared for her siblings with great pride and joy. She continued the nurturing when she had her own children.

Andrew Jackson High School recently had to drop back and punt, regarding the Volunteers’ coaching vacancy.

Thrown for a loss late in the game, AJ’s pressing challenge was to salvage the situation as best it could.

Given the situation, AJ officials got off a boomer to get back in the game.

In case you missed the latest saga in the AJ football situation, as the 2009-10 school term wound to a close, school officials were faced with the unexpected situation of filling the school’s football coaching vacancy.

The 8 a.m. Econ 101 class that many of us skipped had some very valuable information in its lesson. It would help explain why we are headed to an economic collapse which I believe will arrive next year.

If you get your news and information from some talking head on TV, you are misinformed and uninformed.

The nine states without an income tax are growing faster than the nine states with the highest income tax rates. To quote Gomer Pyle, “Surprise! Surprise!”

The Lancaster County Community Garden Council would like to acknowledge and thank the individuals and groups who support the Lancaster County community garden. Thank you, Ben and Susan Snipes and the Carolinas Cowboy Church for opening the 2010 season with an old-fashioned mule plow day.

Every year about this time, we wish our readers a happy summer, but we also like to remind you to be careful when you’re out having fun. Much of the advice we give, you’ve surely heard many, many times before.

Wear sunscreen when you’re outside. Sunburns not only cause temporary pain, but can lead to skin cancer later on.